ACHILLE, OK-The mayor and the entire police force were let go Wednesday night in one Texoma town.
Victoria Maranan tells us what happened.
The Achille city council appointed Dean Collins as the new mayor. His first order of business, firing everyone in the Achille police department.
After a council vote in a special meeting tonight, the Achille council voted to remove mayor Lynn Chambers and instate Dean Collins as the new mayor. Chambers remained on the council and other members would not comment on why the change was made.
Chambers was arrested in March of 2010 and charged with embezzlement. He claimed to be cleared of all charges. Council members would not say whether the charges had any bearing on their decision tonight.
After naming Collins the new mayor, they went into executive session. After just a few minutes, council announced the firing of four Achille police officers, including the chief.
Town residents applauded the decision and one of them, Billie Hughes, said it was needed.
"They needed to go, you couldn't find them in Achille when you need them even for emergencies or anything, just like today. The secretary tried to call them all day long while we were cleaning. We couldn't get a hold of them," she said.
Mayor Collins said he believes it was necessary to make Achille better.
"Have the people in town where they can feel like coming out in the streets and people can come through and not get harrassed and stopped. It's just better for the city," he said.
Council members would not comment on why the officers were let go. We tried to speak with one former officer, he was unavailable for comment.
Mayor Collins said he will work with the newly appointed police chief, Eric Guhl, to hire new officers.